It’s time to return rail to Tyrone

All that had changed by 1965, however, as the last train rolled out of the county and most assumed they were gone for good.

Since then, two whole generations have been born and raised in a Tyrone where rail exists only in hazy memories and black and white photographs.

Cut off from the transport arteries that are the lifeblood of economics, tourism and social life on this island, Tyrone and the western half of Northern Ireland have been left on the margins ever since – resulting in economic underperformance and difficulty attracting investment and retaining our young.

The good news is that an opportunity has now arisen to undo those mistakes of the past. Rail is having a major renaissance across Europe, with the EU even declaring 2021 as its ‘Year of Rail’.

In Ireland – an island with one of the highest car-dependency rates in Europe – rail is no longer being viewed as an outdated relic. It is instead increasingly seen as a key part of this island’s transport future – with an essential contribution to make in tackling climate change, road congestion and rebalancing population and economic activity away from Belfast and Dublin.

The Republic, in particular, has reflected this change of attitude in its new ‘Project Ireland 2040’ National Development Plan, which makes Sustainable Mobility a key national objective. Whilst Northern Ireland is often slow at responding to the winds of change, even here there has been a palpable change in public and political attitudes towards rail.

And now the first ever All-Island Rail Strategy is being developed to map out a new role and future for rail across the northern and southern parts of this island.

It is due to be completed and published by summer 2022. As part of that process, a public consultation has begun to secure views on how and where the network should be improved.

‘Into The West’ is the campaign group for rail in counties Tyrone, Derry, Fermanagh and Donegal. It was established in 2004 to successfully oppose Stormont’s then-plan to shut the existing Belfast to Derry rail line west of Coleraine.

Having won the battle to save that crucial rail line – followed then by a successful campaign to secure a new rail station in Derry city – ‘Into The West’ has spent the last few years campaigning for major improvements that would revolutionise transport across the North West.

And we’ve witnessed a fundamental shift in public opinion on this topic in recent years.

Where once the idea of bringing rail back to Omagh, Dungannon or Enniskillen was dismissed as fantasy, it is now considered essential by many people across the west of Northern Ireland. The absence of even basic infrastructure in counties like Tyrone is no longer being tolerated, and people are being increasingly outspoken in calling for it to be changed. The West is awake!

But rail will only return to Tyrone if people across the county believe in it and demand it. So we need to ensure that Tyrone shouts the loudest – and with a united and clear voice – on this key issue for our county’s future.

The deadline to make submissions to the All-Island Rail Review Strategy consultation is tomorrow (Friday). If you want to see 60 years of Tyrone’s isolation ended and the west of Ulster returned to the rail network, then please ensure you make a submission to say so today.

The consultation webpage is www.StrategicRailReview.com/ Feedback. And you can also submit comments by email at strategicrailreview@arup.com.

By Steve Bradley – chair of ‘Into The West’